A pair of rookies have taken the Mets future into their own hands

The New York Mets had a collapse for the ages in 2025, which sparked a revolutionary offseason. Now, as the 2026 season is underway, the moves made have seemingly paid off. 

Even more than that, they are getting serious contributions from their youth. Both starting pitcher Nolan McLean and outfielder Carson Benge have been everything and more for this team through the first four games of the year. 

The future is now, and both of those players are trying to push this Mets team past the threshold. Bleacher Report recently had them ranked on their list of top rookies across Major League Baseball, and rightfully so. 

Benge is currently batting .214 following that opening day, first at-bat blast in front of the Citi Field faithful. As he settles into the season, it will become more and more apparent how important he is to this lineup. Currently, at the end of the batting order, in the eighth spot, he is a nice wrap-around for this potent offense. 

McLean followed up his nice performance late last season with a great first start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He allowed 1 home run,  2 earned runs, and struck out a team-high 8 batters on Sunday. He is making a case already for some Cy Young consideration, but there is still a long season ahead. 

The Mets will still have to rely on the core group of Bo Bichette, Francisco Lindor, and Juan Soto to get them back to the postseason and a chance at the World Series. But seeing their youth start to blossom like this is a great sign of things to come. 

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